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Insect farming is a rapidly expanding agricultural sector with the potential to improve the environmental sustainability of livestock production. A holistic approach is needed to use farmed insects responsibly and effectively with broad benefits across food systems.
Octopuses, crabs and lobsters are probably sentient, yet their welfare needs are poorly protected in the food system. Upholding animal welfare in the seafood industry presents challenges, and more research is needed to address humane capture, housing and slaughter.
Laboratories around the world are racing to create the perfect piece of meat. But, questions remain about how cellular agriculture can help with the world’s growing agricultural challenges.
The proposed benefits of cultured meat fail to track our moral intuitions because they are focused on the practical aspect of cultured meat production and consumption. A virtue-oriented approach can show cultured meat in a different light.
Industry and governments are increasingly investing in cellular agriculture. However, the trajectory of these technologies is likely to reinforce many current food system problems, particularly power asymmetries.
Foods created by tissue engineering have captured imaginations within the food systems community. In this issue, we explore how cellular agriculture aligns with food systems priorities of sustainability, health, equity and economy.
Product-level life-cycle assessments together with global-level integrative scenario assessments can guide the cellular agriculture development process towards greater environmental sustainability.
Technical and social perspectives can highlight the interconnectedness of people, planet and profit in cultured meat production. The sector must engage in the socioeconomics and politics of their technology to avoid greenwashing and enact effective change.
Antibiotic use in livestock and aquaculture production is driving resistance to medically important antibiotics. Producing meat through alternative methods, such as cultivated meat, offers an opportunity to decouple antibiotics from meat.
The burgeoning field of cultured meat is racing to achieve the minimal standards required for market access. We argue that the focus must shift to a higher, mission-based standard based on transparency and collective processes.
Critics of cellular agriculture fear that sector growth will reinforce unjust food system dynamics. Food justice frameworks can inform development and evaluation of the sector’s contribution to fairer and more sustainable food systems.